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Thursday, June 13, 2013

From Rose's Garden: My Sugar Addiction

Rose will be posting her journal entries on the first 3 Thursdays of every
month from now until December. During this time, she'll be receiving
free health coaching from Shirley Plant of Delicious Alternatives and Iris Higgins of Your Fairy Angel.

Summer has arrived at my house! I love love love to garden, and I planted and filled nine large window box planters last weekend...along with other assorted pots that I filled and continue to fill with every flower I love. Daisies, Lobelia, Petunias, Dianthus, Geraniums, Nasturtiums, Forget Me Nots, Ferns, Alyssum (for the wonderful scent)...and Patchouli!! Patchouli is my very favorite scent, and I discovered the plant a few years back. Oh my! The scent is just amazing! And my herbs...OH EM GEE!

I am a total sucker for herbs. Ain't nothin' like fresh herbs when preparing food - and that heavenly scent on my deck that wafts into my kitchen...my little piece of heaven. There is absolutely NOTHING that I enjoy more than my deck time in the summer. I sit in my wicker rocker in the morning and evenings, and watch and listen to the birds at my feeders. I meander through all of my plants and tend them. The very act of dead heading my flowers and tending them is very soothing and rewarding to me. I am TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY in my element. The only other thing that comes close to this feeling is when I am painting...but I will save that for another post. :)

The first two weeks have, for the most part, gone pretty well for me. Let me just say that I have a huge girl crush on Iris...and yes, I've had it for a while. What's not to love about her?? Seriously?? I have had two meetings with my coach, Shirley. I am really enjoying my talks with her and she is a great sounding board. She is helping me with ideas on trying to remain gluten and dairy free, in addition to cutting out the sugar. I am beyond excited and thankful to have been chosen as one of the seven women to share my journey with all of you! A girl just couldn't ask for much more...could she???

Wellll.... There is that incredibly irritating matter of my sugar addiction. Yes, I would LOVE for that to just GO AWAY! I have discovered over the past two weeks that the sugar is, quite possibly, a bigger issue for me than the gluten...and dairy...and soy...and eggs. As I shared in my initial post, I learned through testing that I am intolerant to all of the above. Eggs continue to be tough for me at times because they were such an easy "go-to" food, with protein and all that good stuff. I loved them scrambled or any other way, and I love to bake; Still haven't figured out how to bake sans eggs. Plus eggs are relatively inexpensive. Not gonna lie: I miss eggs.

Soy is not a big issues for me... But does that mean that I have to steer clear of almost anything that is processed!? Because let's face it - Some form of soy is in almost EVERYTHING! Dairy is also tough, but I'm doing without it fairly well. I still slip a little dairy in once in a great while, but in a REALLY small amount. Then I get that annoying "dairy baby." My stomach literally looks like I am seven months pregnant and I feel so uncomfortable. Then I vow to NEVER partake of dairy again. Such fun to be a humanoid, isn't it?

Back when I was prego with a real baby

I continue to work on being consistently gluten free. I have managed to avoid it the past two weeks! So yay for me!

Then there is that dreaded subject matter...ahem...sugar. In my initial meeting with Shirley, I told her about my biggest guilty pleasure: my morning coffee. Okay, this is REALLY hard to confess because I'm an intelligent gal. I know how BAD this is for my body. Yet here I sit, and I'm not alone here with my words. My coffee concoction is within arm's reach right now. First of all, I should tell you that the caffeine is the least of my concerns. I have a concoction that I put in my coffee pot every morning. It consists mainly of chicory, an organic decaf coffee that contains rooibos and other herbs, and finally, two teaspoons of organic, caffeinated coffee. I feel as though I have relatively successfully addressed the caffeine issue. However, as I just told you, I REALLY miss my cream and coffee. Okay, okay, I mourn my cream and coffee! It was so DAMN GOOD!

Now we get to the good part - or the horror. I have become addicted to Starbucks Mocha mix. I buy this stuff online and it's sugar laden, but has an INTENSE coffee, mocha flavor. When I initially added it to a cup of coffee, it really didn't provide that "perfect balance" of flavor for me, but it was DAIRY FREE. Hmm...rationalize much, Rosie?

Okay, just took a really deep breath. I can't believe that I am putting this in writing.

Okay, just got up from my desk, took a short walk, and now I'm back! Now...where did I stop? Oh yes...in search of the perfect balance/taste in my coffee...

Well, folks! I discovered coconut creamer... Yeppers! Indeed I did! And...um...yeah... Now I add the mocha mix AND sugar-laden coconut creamer to my morning coffee. And now I cannot stop!! Just freaking shoot me!!!

Okay, enough of my "True Confessions." And wow, this was painful to admit.

I talked to my coach and friend, Shirley, last night and shared with her that I haven't been successful in giving up my morning death drink. Shirley was very kind and made a couple suggestions. We knocked it around a bit and I am going to make another attempt at this. I will let you all know how this goes for me. I know that I can do this, but it may take a little time. And that is perfectly okay. Isn't it? After all, I am just a humanoid...an imperfect being in an imperfect world.

I absolutely love that we are all on here sharing our struggles with one another. We have this safe place that we can all come to and bare our souls. And no judgment is passed. Just complete and utter love, understandings, and gentle suggestions. What a great group we have here! How blessed are we??

I look forward with great anticipation to the next six months! Great things are going to happen. For each and every one of us...of this, I am sure!
Until next time, love and peace to all of you. ♥-Rose-

4 comments:

Ah, I know this feeling! Just got a 2nd cup of Morning Death drink myself. Still (sadly) using milk, maybe I'll switch to hemp milk. On the upside, I did switch to Xylitol! My Keurig only made me a 1/4 cup this morning - should have taken that as a sign but no, I made more :)gina bmom-blog

Hi Rose, you had me cracking up as I read your blog. I have been a total coffee addict too! And I have still been adding my favorite hazelnut creamer every time. I could write love poems about my feelings for coffee and hazelnut creamer. I never even thought about giving it up (my true confession). Until today, when I realized that I start coughing (and sometimes upchucking mucus, ugh gross) after I drink coffee. Today I only had one cup and we'll see if I can give it up. Thank goodness with the gluten-free diet, I am not so foggy in the morning and I'm waking up with more energy. OK, I'm going to try right along with you Rose. P.S. Love the photos of the flowers. Dorothy